Madan Theatre Company, also known as Madan Theatres Limited or Madan Theatres in short, was a film production company founded by Jamshedji Framji & his partner Kanhaiyalal Kaushik, one of the pioneers of Indian Cinema.
| Founded | 1919 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Jamshedji Framji |
History
a young Parsi businessman, who had experience in Theatre shows from an early age, stepped into entertainment business in 1902, when he started bioscope shows of imported cinemas a tent in Maidan, Calcutta.
After World War I, Madan's Theatre business started growing rapidly. In 1919 pt kanhaiyalal Kaushik joint hands with Jamshedji, his business became a joint stock company with the name of Madan Theatres Limited. Madan Theatres and its associates had a great control over theatre houses in India those days.[citation needed]
J. J, third son of Jamshedji Framji, became managing director of Madan Theatres after the death of his father in 1923. Madan Theatres reached a peak in late 1920s when it owned 127 theatres and controlled half of the country's box office.[1] Madan Theatres produced a number of popular and landmark films till 1937.[2]
List of films
- Billwamangal (1919), Bengali feature film, screened in Cornwallis Theatre (now known as Sree Cinema).
- Nala Damayanti (1920), directed by Eugenio de Liguoro.
- Dhruva Charitra (1921), also directed by Eugenio de Liguoro.
- Ratnavali (1922), directed by Camille Le Grand.
- Savitri Satyavan (1923), directed by Georgio Mannini.
- Bishabriksha (1922 and 1928).
- Durgesh Nandini (1927) and Radharani (1930), both based on Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's works.
- Giribala (1929), based on Rabindranath Tagore's work.
- Jamai Shashthi (1931), Bengali short film as a talkie, was released on 11 April 1931.[3]
- Indrasabha (1932), a musical with 72 songs.